Part II: Section 4
Northward the mountains rose to view,And with the dawn a hazy blueCurled wreathing, circling o'er the valley;And turning to the East his face,Soon as the bell to prayer did rally,Each Mussulman would stay his pace.And when that voice of morning chimeAwoke the Convent with its clanging,At that serene and solemn time,With empty water-pitcher hanging,Tripped down the hill each Grusian maiden,And plodded back with pitcher laden.Ah! then how grand the enduring snows,Tinged with the sunrise lingering glowsAgainst pellucid azure lying;And when at eve the sun in dyingCast o'er the heights a ruddy shroud,Above all others towering far,Piercing vain barriers of cloud,Soars vast Kazbèk, crowned, mantled czarOf those proud peaks, himself more proud.
Words in this poem
- northward a.
- Toward the north; nearer to the north than to the east or west point. [AS. noredhweard.]
- hazy a.
- Thick with haze; somewhat obscured with haze; not clear or transparent. [From Haze, n.]
- rally v. t.
- To collect, and reduce to order, as troops dispersed or thrown into confusion; to gather again; to reunite. [OF. ralier, F. rallier, fr. L. pref. re- + ad + ligare to bind. See Ra-, and 1st Ally.]
- mussulman n.
- A Mohammedan; a Moslem. [Ar. muslimin, pl. of muslim: cf. F. & Sp. musulman. See Moslem.]
- chime n.
- The harmonious sound of bells, or of musical instruments. [OE. chimbe, prop., cymbal, OF. cymbe, cymble, in a dialectic form, chymble, F. cymbale, L. cymbalum, fr. Gr. Cymbal.]
- towering a.
- Very high; elevated; rising aloft; as, a towering height.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Part II: Section 4 is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Demon, translated from the Russian of Lermontoff by Robert Burness, B.A. (Oxon.), Edinburgh: Douglas & Foulis, 1918, Internet Archive, the Robert Burness translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Mikhail Lermontov, Part II: Section 4, in The Demon (1918), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lermontov-demon/2-4.html, id L28473.
Form and metre
Part II: Section 4 is 21 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes AABCBCDEDEFFGGHHIJIJI. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 AABCBCDEDEFFGGHHIJIJI viewA · blueA · valleyB · faceC · rallyB · paceC · chimeD · clangingE · timeD · hangingE · maidenF · ladenF · snowsG · glowsG · lyingH · dyingH · shroudI · farJ · cloudI · czarJ · proudI
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Northward the mountains rose to view, | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| And with the dawn a hazy blue | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Curled wreathing, circling o'er the valley; | 9 | ·/˘/˘··/˘ |
| And turning to the East his face, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Soon as the bell to prayer did rally, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Each Mussulman would stay his pace. | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| And when that voice of morning chime | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Awoke the Convent with its clanging, | 9 | ˘/·/˘··/˘ |
| At that serene and solemn time, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| With empty water-pitcher hanging, | 9 | ·/˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| Tripped down the hill each Grusian maiden, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| And plodded back with pitcher laden. | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Ah! then how grand the enduring snows, | 9 | ·····˘/˘· |
| Tinged with the sunrise lingering glows | 8 | ···/·/˘· |
| Against pellucid azure lying; | 9 | ··˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| And when at eve the sun in dying | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Cast o'er the heights a ruddy shroud, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Above all others towering far, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Piercing vain barriers of cloud, | 8 | /˘·/˘˘·· |
| Soars vast Kazbèk, crowned, mantled czar | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Of those proud peaks, himself more proud. | 8 | ····˘/·· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.